Active in communities

Why it matters

As a business, we don’t exist in isolation - we’re an integral part of every local community we’re based in. The best businesses help the people who live and work around them to thrive – supporting them at difficult moments, getting involved to support the issues they care most about and offering to share skills and resources.

Our approach

We want to strengthen our relationships with the communities we work in. Our Community Investment policy governs the ways we support community organisations, from contributing time and skills to providing one-off donations and establishing long-term partnerships.

Much of our community activity is defined by the needs we see on the ground in the areas we work in, and is organised by local teams. We focus RSA’s contributions on developing education & employability, enhancing social inclusion, supporting causes linked to mental health, contributing to emergency relief and protecting the environment.

Shaping a smarter tomorrow

We also develop strategic community partnerships that help to support us to ‘Shape a smarter tomorrow’ by raising awareness of risks and encouraging behaviour change. Our partnerships focus on:

• Water safety – raising awareness of the risks around drowning and hosting summer swim schools for children through our partnership with the Swedish Lifesaving Society
• Road safety – promoting responsible actions through our TruceTO campaign to create safer streets for cyclists, drivers and pedestrians, and support for the annual National Reflector Day in Scandinavia
• Safety in the home – conducting research with RoSPA on the causes and impacts of accidents on families, and how to prevent them.

Every RSA colleague has the opportunity to take two days of volunteering time per year, in support of causes of their own choosing. During 2019, we collectively donated 12,000 hours to causes we care about.